This early engraving from Illustrations of the Book of Job by William Blake, published in 1823, depicts the Old Testament character being rebuked by his friends. (Wikipedia Commons)

Blaming God for tragedy nothing new

Why do the innocent suffer? It's a question as old as the Book of Job and as current as today's headlines.

By Jeff Brumley

Many criticized prominent evangelicals like James Dobson and Mike Huckabee for claiming last week's Connecticut school massacre was God’s punishment of a morally disobedient nation, but don't expect such views to change. Scholars say the belief in divine retribution for personal and national transgressions not only goes back as far as the Bible's Book of Job, it’s also a concept fused into the American worldview.

Theologians call it theodicy -- beliefs that seek to explain why a just God allows human beings to suffer. In the United States, biblical theodicy becomes intertwined with civil religion. "It's hard to tell where one begins and the other one ends," Hankins said.

America constantly judged

Hankins said that has been in full display since the Dec. 14 murders of 20 first graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary. Naturally, people, including the victims' families, are asking "why?"

For former presidential candidate and Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister, the answer is that God is punishing the nation because schools do not sanction prayer and religious instruction. Huckabee later added the use of abortion pills to the list of causes.

Baldwin teaches theodicy and historical biblical theology and sees both in the recent comments of Huckabee and Dobson. But he said their God-punishes-America view is a narrow one even by biblical standards.

Baldwin said the early prophets interpreted calamity as God’s punishment of Israel for the misbehavior of individuals. But the prophet Jeremiah offers a view in which the nation is not held accountable for the actions of a few or even many. In the Book of Job, meanwhile, Baldwin said, “The author says ‘look, sometimes suffering just happens.’” He said the belief that God smites the many for the sins of the few is even further dissipated in the Gospels.

Baldwin said that evolving message is not reflected in the theology of conservative American Christians. “The theodicy these guys are working with … holds God responsible for both natural disasters and these human-made tragedies,” Baldwin said. “It’s rooted in the ancient Israelite conception that God is in control of every single thing that happens.”

Get used to it

Dennis Sansom, professor and chair of philosophy at Samford University, said it is also rooted in human nature. “It’s part of the human condition to ask why and look for explanations” when disasters and suffering occurs, Sansom told ABPnews via e-mail.

He said it’s also natural for those who believe in a good, loving God to ask why evil exists -- and what behaviors can be adopted or modified to prevent disasters. It’s why he predicts more of the same in the future -- especially in the United States, where theodicy is woven in the social and political fabric.

“I think such comments will be with us regardless of how secular or non-churched the society becomes,” Sansom said.